Water-closet bowl



H. D. FARRIS. WATER CLOSET'B'O WL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, l9l9.

I m I m. I

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Hwy 40. Farrah.

tiafolvzeyc.

HARVEY D. FARR/IS, OF SPOKANE, -WASHINGr'ION.

WATER-CLOSET B GVJL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 10, 1920,

Application filed April 7, 1519. Serial No. 288,179.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARVEY D. FAnRIs, citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ater- Closet Bowls, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in water closet bowls and more particularly to improvements in the clean out devices of such a bowl.

It is customary to provide water closet bowls of the siphon type with clean out openings at the upper ends of their siphoning legs and various constructions of closures for these openings have been devised but many of them possess disadvantages which render their use undesirable and unsatisfactory. To be effective such a closure must be so constructed as toseal the opening in a water and gas tight manner as otherwise, in the flushing of the bowl, there will be a leakage of water past the closure, and when the bowl is not being flushed the accumulated obnoxious sewer gases will escape past said closure. 'As a consequence, a 010- sure which is not air and water tight is insanitary. Although some types of closures which have been proposed for use might well be adapted toeifectually seal an opening of accurately regular contour, it not infrequently happens that in the firing of a porcelain bowl a warping or distortion of the bowl will take place about the clean out opening and however slight this warping or distortion may be, such a closure cannot be applied to the bowl so as to seal the opening in a water and air tight manner. Furthermore, some types of closure which have been proposed for use are so constructed that when tightened in place they Wlll exert certain stresses upon the walls of the bowl tending to fracture'the bowl if subjected to. other stresses. Qther types of closures intended to be made from porcelain present another disadvantage namely,.that a bowlso equipped cannot be shipped without l ability of fracture of. the closure. Also, there are various types ofvclosures which cannot be opened for the cleaning out of the slphonlng leg by an inexperienced person and again closed withoutliability of an ineffective sealing of the closure so that there will be a leakage of water and an escape of gases past ;the closure. In, considerationofthe foregoing it is one of the primary objects of the present invention to provide a water closet bowl of the siphon type with a closure for its clean out opening, which closure will be so constructed that when applied within the opening it will effectually seal the opening in a water and gas tight manner even though the opening be of irregular contour because of warping or distortion in the process of manufacture of the bowl; which may be securely fixed in place in a water and gas tight manner without placing any breaking stress upon the wall of the bowl; which may be opened and again closed by the most inexperienced person without detriment to its effectiveness as a sealing medium for the clean out opening and, therefore, without liability of leakage of water and the escape of gas; and which may be shipped applied to the bowl without likelihood of fracture of the bowl because of its presence thereon. It is also an object of the invention to provide a closure for the purpose stated which will in every respect be sanitary and which will possess none of the disadvantages above referred to.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical front to rear sectional view through the bowl,

Fig, 2 is a detail vertical front to rear sectional view through the forward portion of the bowl illustrating the closure provided for the clean out opening in the front wall of the bowl, and

Fig. 3 is a group perspective view illustrating two of the members of the closure in position about to be assembled.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates in general the wat r closet bowl having the usual flushing channel 2 surrounding its upper margin and provided near its top at its rear side with the usual outlet flushing spout 3 from which water is to be discharged in a downward direction to flow over the bottom of the interior of the bowl so as to carry off the excrement through the upwardly and forwardly inclined siphon leg 4, the excrement passing through the down passage 5 and out through the discharge opening 6 with which is connected the down pipe. In order that the siphon leg 4 and down passage 5 may be cleared of obstructions in the event they become clogged, the front wall of the bowl is formed opposite the juncture of these passages 4 and 5 with an opening 7 normally sealed in a water and air tight manner by the closure illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings and constituting the present invention. The opening 7 is intended to be truly circular although, as heretofore pointed out, it not infrequently happens, in the firing of the bowls in the process of manufacture, that the wall of this opening will become warped or distorted to a greater or less degree. However, also as pointed out above, this distortion or warping is not a serious detriment in the event the closure embodying my invention is employed and my reasons for making this claim and assertion will be evident from the following specific description of the closure and the manner in which it is secured in place within the opening.

- The closure embodying the invention includes in its structure an expanding bushing indicated in general by the numeral 8, this bushing being formed at one end with a flange 9 which is exteriorly threaded as indicated by the numeral 10 for a purpose to be presently explained. The flange is located at the outer margin of one face of the body of the bushing so that an annular shoulder 11 is provided surrounding the opening in the body of the bushing, the wall of this opening being threaded, as indicated by the numeral 12, so as to receive the plug or closure as will be presently pointed out. Except for the threaded portion 10, the body of the bushing is exteriorly smooth and the bushing at its 0 posite end is formed with a flared or conical flange 13, the outer-surface of which merges with the outer surface of the body of the bushing. The numeral 141 indicates in general a gasket of rubber or other suitable packing material which comprises a body portion 15 snugly fitted upon the body of the bushing 8 and provided with a circumscribing flange 16 at its outer end, the said flange projecting outwardly from the body portion and the opposite end of the said body portion of the bushing fitting over the inner portion of the flared or conical flange 13, as

clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the draw ings. The numeral 17 indicates a ring nut which is threaded onto the flange 9 of the bushing and this nut at its inner face is designed to bear against the outer face of the flange 16 of the packing gasket ll. The flange 13 of the bushing 8 has a maximum diameter sulmtantially equal to the diameter of the opening 7 and in assembling the previously described parts of the closure with the bowl, the said bushing 8 with the gasket 1 1 in place thereon is fitted with its flange 13 foremost, through the opening 7, so that the body portion 15 of the packing gasket will seat more or less snugly within the opening and the inner face of the flange 16 of said gasket will rest against -the outer face of the bowl. The nut 17 is then applied and tightened and'as the nut is tightened upon the'b'ushing, the nut and the flared flange 13 will be brought closer together so that the body portion of the packing gasket will be expanded as it rides up upon the exterior surface of the conical flange and as the said flange is drawn into the gasket. Thus, the body portion of the packing gasket is expanded within the opening 7 and being compressible, is caused to snugly fit within the opening in a water and air tight manner. At the same time, the nut 1'7 is caused to bear firmly against the flange 16 so as to compress this flange against the outer surface of the wall of the bowl about the opening 7, thus further insuring of a water and air tight fit of the closure within the said opening. The nu meral 18 indicates a plug which is exteriorly threaded as at 19 to match the threads 12 of the bushing 8 and this plug is designed to be threaded into place in the opening in the bushing and is provided with a circumscribing flange 20 and has fitted upon it a packing washer 21 which, as the plug is tightened, is compressed between the said flange and the shoulder 11 of the body of the bushing, thus providing an air and water tight fit between theplug and bushing. The plug is provided upon its outer face with a polygonal boss 22 for the application of a wrench or other suitable tool whereby it may be conveniently loosened and tightened. At this point it will be understood that the bushing 8 constitutes a permanent fixture when once fitted into place and is not to be disturbed in the use of the clean out opening, access being had to the passages 1 and 5 within the bowl by removing the plug 18 of the closure.

In order that the closure proper may be concealed from view and to prevent the same becoming fouled with accumulations of filth, a cover cap 23 is preferably provided, this cap being preferably of metal and suitably enameled to correspond in appearance to the enameled surface of the bowl. This cover cap is formed with an opening 24: and a screw or other suitable fastening element 25 is fitted through this opening and threaded into a bore 26 formed centrally in the plug 18.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing having an opening and a circumferential expanding surface, a gasket fitted upon the bushing with the expanding surface entering the gasket, means upon the bushing adjustable to relatively adjust the bushing and gasket to circuinferentially expand the latter, and a closure for the opening in the bushing. Y

2. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing having an opening and a circumferential expanding surface, an elastic gasket disposed to surround the bushing and to fit about a portion of the said surface thereof, means upon the bushing adjustable to relatively adjust the bushing and gasket whereby to circumferentially expand the gasket, and a closure for the opening in the bushing.

8. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing having an opening and having a portion of its circumferential surface flared, a gasket fitted circumferentially upon the bushing, and means upon the bushing adjustable to relatively adjust the bushing and gasket whereby to expand the gasket as the gasket moves in contact with the flared portion of the bushing, and a closure for the opening in the bushing.

4. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing having a conical flared flange and provided with an opening, a gasket fitted circumferentially upon the bushing, means for relatively adjusting the bushing and gasket whereby the entrance of the flared portion of the bushing into the gasket will serve to expand the latter circumferentially, and a closure for the opening in the bushing.

5. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing circumferentially flared, a gasket disposed to circumferentially fit the bushing and having a circumferential flange, a nut threaded upon the bushing to bear against the flange, and a closure for the opening in the bushing.

6. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing circumferentially flared, a gasket disposed to circumferentially fit the bushing and having a circumferential flange, a nut threaded upon the bushing to bear against the flange, the bushing being provided interiorly with a shoulder and being interiorly threaded, a plug removably threaded into the bushing, :and a packing washer surrounding the plug and confined between a portion of the same and the said shoulder.

7. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising a bushing having an opening, means for fixing the bushing within the clean out opening, a closure plug removably fitted within the bushing, a cover ing and bearing against the flange whereby to bind the flange against the said face of the bowl and draw the flaring flange of the bushing into the gasket to expand the same within the clean out opening, and a closure for the opening in the bushing.

9. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising an annular bushing flared at one end to provide an expanding surface and exteriorly threaded at its other end, a gasket fitted upon and bodily surrounding the bushing between its flared and threaded portions, a nut fitted onto the threaded portion of the bushing to bear against the gasket and cause the same to ride onto the expanding portion of the bushing, and means for closing the opening in the bushing.

10. A closure for the clean out opening of a bowl comprising an annular bushing exteriorly flared at one end to provide an expanding surface and exteriorly threaded at its other end, a packing gasket bodily fitted onto the bushing and lying between the ends thereof, the said gasket having an outwardly extending flange, a nut fitted onto the expanding surface of the bushing, and a closure for the opening in the bushing.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARVEY D. FARRIS. [1 s.] 

